Playmaker McGarvey-Black still a Coastie

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Ngarohi McGarvey-Black is where he wants to be.

At time of print, that's LAX in the wake of the All Black Sevens' 22-12 win in the final of the World Rugby Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation's Los Angeles 7s leg at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

The All Black Sevens lead the World Series with 107 competition points, the Argentinians and South Africans both have 86. Current world champions Australia have 77.

McGarvey-Black, a 2021 Ngati Porou East Coast Kaupoi, is a playmaker in the powerhouse crew that won five from six to defend their title. They beat Chile 26-7 and the USA 36-15 before falling 14-7 to Samoa at the end of Day 1.

On Day 2, they began with a 24-12 victory over Great Britain, and beat the Aussies 33-17 and finally Los Pumas, 22-12 to win the sixth of 11 tournaments on the world sevens circuit.

McGarvey-Black is in no doubt about the difference between the Clark Laidlaw-coached men in black and their opponents.

“These boys are that much fitter and they're able to play their style of rugby. With our improved fitness levels, so also our ability to solve problems on the go has grown,” he said.

“The highlight of this season so far must be winning tournaments back to back (the All Black Sevens won in Sydney last month). We'd not done that since I'd made the team, and we're feeling good. We've got no injuries in the squad.

“We just need to focus on us and how we prepare before each tournament. East Coast is my province — every time I get named, the Coast's named as my province.

“In LA, we started off strongly in most games — through the middle of some games we were patchy — but by the end it was back on again.

“We tend to play on top of teams — use our aggression. We have different game-plans for different teams but our go-to is to play up-tempo and pressure the other team.

“We're our own worst critics. We're always trying to perfect our game-plans, tactics, gym numbers, bronco times. It's just a matter of us trusting in our own ability. If we stick to what we've trained to do and the work we've done in the lead-up to games, it doesn't matter who we play.”

This Saturday at BC Place, Canada for the Vancouver 7s, it starts again, with the All Black Sevens playing the USA (10.23am), then Spain (5.05pm).